Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Which is Your Stripper of Choice?

Good evening followers of Papa Nurgle and thank you for joining me once again in our little corner of disease and rot. Recently I have found myself in possession of a few models which are in good condition but I would much rather paint them myself to tie in with their friends.

Now normally I have been using original Dettol as my weapon of choice with it doing me proud in the past, and Simple Green which seems so popular across the pond is not widely available here in the UK. However while on my trip out to pick up a bottle ( never a dull moment ) I remembered an article written by Karitas over on Excommunicate Tratoris ( which if you haven't paid a visit to I highly recommend you do ).

The article was about a couple of plastic dreadnoughts he had stripped back to the primer using Fairy Power Spray ( a kitchen degreaser ) and how it was quick, effective and more importantly didn't make the paint transform into sticky ooze.So to give it a try with as little risk as possible I threw in a metal model. Originally it was going to be my Tomb King model I will use represent my Tomb Prince but decided on my reaper Finari model I picked up last year for a spot of Warhammer Quest which died out quickly when our DM got bored, though hopefully in the next few weeks a new DM is planning to take up the challenge.

She hasn't turned out bad for a test subject

This model was originally primed and painted but not sealed with any kind of varnish. Within an hour I could see spots of bare metal though I gave it 24 hours time in a jar and started clean up by running it under the tap. Surprisingly this took care of the paint which was exposed and only required minimum work to clean out the nooks and crannies. Within a few minutes I had her back to a cleaner standard than I have achieved with Dettol and wasn't covered in ooze or had any nasty reactions.On a serious note I did strip a large biscuit tins worth of marines two years ago using neat Dettol without wearing gloves and for six weeks after my hands peeled every time they got wet . This was not a pleasant experience and did cause them to be uncomfortable for this time, so please make sure you always take precautions when working with any type of chemical, even ones you have used for years as a cleaner and think are harmless.

Overall I am happy with the ease in which I was able to get these results and I have since throw in a couple of heavy painted models which seemed to be stripping nicely with a little stir now and then.
So my question to you is "Which is your stripper of choice and why?"
O'Shashar

@ Mighty Simo - Don't get me wrong dettol does the job without damaging the model just the clean up isn't perfect.

@eriochrome - Not heard of Dawn Power Dissolver before from the looks of it is similiar to the Fairy Power Sprayin the sense it is a kitchen degreaser.

I have been tempted to try Swarfega as it is a heavy duty hand cleaner/degreaser for mechanics and machinery. It could work in a similar way and a 250ml bottle can be got for few pounds so could be worth a try if Power Spray starts to bankrupt me.

I'm a big fan of Fairy Power Spray - it's the best product I've found for stripping both plastics and metals. Be sure to wear gloves though! It's still a bit caustic and can leave your skin red and sore!